At dawn, Gu led the inspection team to the hidden service door. Pei cleared the remaining hedge with the brush hook and uncovered a narrow iron pull set low in the stone. Dust filled the groove around it.
“Is this the same door that was open yesterday?” Yan asked.
“Yes,” Gu said. “The gap was at the hinge side. This pull is on the opposite edge.”
Luo checked the written order. It allowed them to inspect the service entrance but not enter a deep chamber. “We open it from outside. If the passage looks unstable, we stop.”
Pei pulled once. The door did not move. He tried again with both hands, careful not to jerk. The iron gave a low groan but held.
“Something is catching,” he said.
Wei looked at the bottom edge. “It’s sunk into the dirt.”
Yan crouched and swept the loose soil aside with the back of his sleeve. The door’s lower edge had pressed into a ridge of packed earth. His wrapped hand tugged at the cloth as he used his other arm.
